Jon Hamm covers the May issue of Men’s Fitness, not so much to promote Mad Men’s final season, but to promote his first huge star vehicle, Million Dollar Arm. I keep seeing ads for it too – Hamm is another one (like Angelina Jolie) who is getting down with Disney these days. I actually hope Million Dollar Arm is a hit, even if it doesn’t look like my cup of tea. I do like that it features young Indian actors though. Anyway, as for Hamm’s Men’s Health interview… much like his previous rants against the Kardashian family, Hamm is still in rare form when discussing Justin Bieber. He also bad-mouths FX and people who talk about the Hamm Dong. Some highlights:

He’s still upset that we’re talking about his dong: “Would you want people walking up to you and pointing at your d**k…? I can’t believe I’m still talking about this… The fact that I’m painted as this exhibitionist is a little annoying. It’s become a meme (behaviour trait). Being someone who people want to photograph, you have to open yourself up to the positive and negative. It is what it is. If I get mad at it I’ll look like a douchebag. But it’s silly.”

He thinks Justin Bieber is a s—thead: “Look at Bieber or whoever. You’re like, ‘What the f**k, man? What are you doing? Why?’ There’s no one telling those people no, and it’s a shame. [He should have] a mom or a dad or a really good friend who can say, ‘Hey, sh**head!’ You see people in the world and you’re like, ‘Do you know how a washing machine works? Do you know how to wash a dish? Life skills are something we’re missing… just s**t you needed to learn in life. There used to be a class that kids had to take in high school called home economics, which was cooking and sewing and just s**t you needed to learn in life.”

He says there’s “this weird backlash” against the upwardly mobile in America: “It’s this Sarah Palin kind of conversation where they’re like, ‘Oh, the elites.’ It’s become a thing to just aspire to be a regular person. No, actually, you should desire to be better.”

He hates that Mad Men’s final season is being split up: “It’s not up to me. I don’t care. But it’s funny that that’s become the de rigueur way to do a last anything, whether it’s Twilight or Hunger Games or Breaking Bad or whatever. You realize it has nothing to do with artistic merit. It’s because of money.”

He loves Breaking Bad: “Breaking Bad was on such a breakneck hurtling train ride to the end. You’re like, ‘What is this guy going to do?’ That’s never been our show. No one could describe it as breakneck or hurtling. Which is great, because that’s another way to tell a story. We don’t have to be like, ‘Who shot J.R.?!’ Did you know that Breaking Bad was originally supposed to be on FX? It was too edgy. F–king FX—which now has Sons of Anarchy and trannies and cutting off d–ks! And Louie! But, for whatever reason, they wouldn’t do it. And AMC was like, ‘Thank you. We’ll take this.’ ”

Is Jon Hamm’s truth-telling always welcome, or does he sound like a curmudgeon at some point? Like, I enjoy his interviews because there aren’t that many people who really talk about how stupid some of these young celebrities are. But it does feel like Hamm’s TRUTH act sometimes comes dangerously close to biting the hand. Think of it this way: what would we be writing if this was January Jones saying all this stuff?

As for the new season of Mad Men… I guess I’ll say SPOILERS even though not much has happened. I read some stuff about Don Draper seeming particularly impotent so far, but I thought last night’s episode – which took place on Valentine’s Day 1969 – was actually really good. It showed Don as a man who wanted to get back to work, and who was actually thinking a lot about work. And OMG is Sally Draper a chip off the old Dick Whitman block. I guess we’ve always known that, haven’t we? But it was pretty much said last night. Also: I would be completely fine with not seeing Megan at all for the rest of the season too. She’s so useless. And even though Peggy was acting super-crazy the entire episode, I loved it. She misses Don, but she would never admit it.

“It’s become a thing to just aspire to be a regular person. No, actually, you should desire to be better” .. I completely agree with this statement. Why do so many aspire to be mediocre? I personally don’t get it.

I hate it as well, and the mentality is driven from a young age now. For instance children participating in sports teams. Back in the day only the kids who truly deserved it won a trophy, and it was something to aspire to, and be proud of. Now they ALL receive a trophy at the end of the season just for having signed up. We can’t possibly have a child who doesn’t participate, hardly shows up, doesn’t try and has no desire to improve NOT win a trophy. No, rather he/she should earn one as well as the child who played his/her heart out all season, who led the team in scoring, improved the most and is a team player. In Little League there were no winners at the end of a game, because it would be too upsetting if they lost, can’t have that.

They are not taught adversity. They do not understand that the prospect of losing is what drives you to succeed. If everybody always won at something, there would be no point in playing anything. Why bother? Striving to achieve, to be successful, and to win is what sets success apart from being mediocre.

Because some are lazy and unambitious yet they resent those who made something of themselves. So they whine that those people are “elitist” because they chose work over sitting in Mommy’s basement playing video games 24/7.

Sorry you get what you deserve. You work hard and you will get the benefits. I do have to say this attitude may spawn from helicopter parenting. A lot of folks do everything for their kids and always fought for “fairness and everyone getting an award.” That type of mentality may work for a 5 years old but not in real life. Sorry but you’re not going to get the same pay as your highly educated upwardly mobile neighbor.

I know there are plenty of Hammsters who love the guy, but I just don’t get it. Physically, I’ve never been attracted and he’s generally complaining about something in every interview I’ve seen. Oh, and you want people to stop talking about the Hammaconda? Put on a pair of underpants.

The part about high schoolers taking home economics made me smile. I think the classes have been renamed, but he’s right about learning life skills. Knowing how to manage daily household tasks and finances is important.

My cousin teaches a class that is basically home economics with some money management tossed into it. The class is called “family and consumer science”.

So many things like sewing, canning and just knowing the basics of cooking are becoming lost skills. I half-heartedly took home economics and now I realize that knowledge is power. Maybe I’ll never sew my own clothes, but just to know how much work goes into it is helpful. And I can mend my store-bought clothes.

I think that may be what JH is trying to say. If spoiled star knows how to wash a dish, then maybe he’ll have more respect for those doing it for him. Or at least know how to manage once the money runs out.

I agree. His dong is always clearly visible and what? We’re not supposed to look or comment? If he doesn’t want us to see it, he needs to wear some courdroys or oh, I don’t know… underwear?? Can you imagine the skid marks in his pants? Ewww!!!

There was a secretary in my old office who got a tattoo around the middle of her thigh and wore dresses short enough to see it, then constantly complained that everybody stared at her legs. Yeah, they do. Any way we could connect some dots here?

He just sounds whiny–and I don’t like it when actors bash their work before it comes out. Sure, I might agree with them, but I think you need to support your project to the best of your ability.

Also—seriously? If I don’t want people talking about my nipples, then guess what? I’m gonna wear a bra. Don’t complain about people seeing the outline of your d-ck, if you don’t wear underwear, and it’s rather….obvious that you don’t. That bugs me. I get that he might feel objectified (funny, for an actor having to go through what an actress does constantly), but come on. Its not like people are taking pictures up his skirt.

Peggy is unhappy and she’s taking it out on other people-it’s sad. However, I generally like her as a character and really hope that she gets a positive ending.

I’m irritated that they are splitting the final season. I think that they are making a big mistake and am worried that by the time the second half of the final season debuts in 2015 people will have forgotten about the show. If they insisted on splitting it I wish they’d show the second half in the Fall of 2014 rather than waiting until 2015.

From the interview: “He says there’s “this weird backlash” against the upwardly mobile in America: “It’s this Sarah Palin kind of conversation where they’re like, ‘Oh, the elites.’ It’s become a thing to just aspire to be a regular person. No, actually, you should desire to be better.”

REALLY? This is some moneyed tripe – he sounds like Don Draper. And it’s extremely classist. Sorry people are concerned about the wildly inequal distribution of wealth. Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable about having so much money. And that last comment suggests that he thinks he is “better” than a “regular person” who is struggling financially. What a Bieber-esque thing to say. Ugh.

Yes, that one had some serious Don Draper swag to me too. It seems as if he wants to excuse his flippant opinions by pinning all the economic angst and the widening gulf between the rich and everybody else on Sarah Palin, who isn’t influential or bright enough to have much if anything to do with it. There’s nothing wrong with being an average Joe with a conventional job and life if that’s who you truly are and are happy with it. Not everyone desires to set the world on fire. Most of the ire towards “elites” from the Palins of the world has to do with education and liberality. Lord only knows they aren’t lining up to criticize the ultra wealthy.

That issue is a bit separate from the income gap. What Hamm is talking about is more to do with the celebration of mediocrity that’s arisen in the last decade or so, and people being proud of their ignorance. Like when Sarah Palin would get busted for being misinformed or ill informed or not informed at all and she’d blow it off with a , “Whatever, I’m just a regular mom and I don’t have time to know about geo-politics, even though I want to be the second most powerful person in the country.” It’s an attitude that really has nothing to do with money. “Upwardly mobile” was probably the wrong phrase to use since it generally means a person is climbing the socioeconomic ladder, but I get what he’s saying about a snide attitude toward education and people being informed. He’s talking more about the culture that celebrates nothings like the Kardashians and Honey Boo Boo than about income earnings.

Ironically, though, that attitude is exactly what has enabled the wealth gap to get so bad. The talking point became, “Those liberal leftist elites with their NPR and PBS want to take your money away,” when really, no, they don’t. But because this attitude arose that being informed means joining the Communist party, more and more people remained ignorant of the actual facts regarding one of the most important issues affecting us today.

Yes, this was my take, too. Remember when Rick Santorum mocked President Obama for promoting higher education? He was just dripping with scorn, and I found it rich considering the guy is clearly college educated. It’s a talking point, as you said, designed simply to be divisive. UGH.

Santorum has at least one advanced degree, but hoi polloi and plebs can’t aspire to a degree or diploma, why is that? Or is it from whom the message is coming because because I thought the whole ‘stay in school’ drum was being reliably beat until recently.

PPC, I too thought “stay in school” was a message politicians could agree upon but this past Republican presidential primary twisted the message to use against Obama. Santorum said Obama was an elitist snob for encouraging kids to go to college!

I think that’s part of what Hamm was referring to. Thanks to Palin, the message became that it was “OK” to be uninformed and uneducated and those who were informed/educated were part of the hated elite. I still shake my head typing about it.

Once upon a time, I probably would have said that if a woman said these things, we’d be all over her, but more and more lately I think it’s not so much male/female as some women/other women. If January Jones said this stuff, yeah, she’d probably get called a bitch, because people already don’t like her. But if someone like Anna Kendrick, Amy Poehler or Tina Fey said it, women who are widely liked, we’d probably be like, “Yeah, she’s totally right. Woman X is the best because she always says truth.”

I don’t think it’s so much about straight misogyny as it is that, for reasons that are misogynistic, we’re so much harder on female celebrities that there’s a smaller pool of widely popular female celebs to support. Like most male celebrities have positive personas, but even the most popular female celebrities tend to be divisive. And there’s something about female celebrities, too, that we can’t find forgiveness for them. If a male celebrity messes up, even if he’s a giant douche for years, as soon as it even remotely appears that he’s gotten his act together, it’s the feel good story of the year (like Ben Affleck finally settling down and producing a lovely dimpled family, even though he might still be a mess behind the scenes). But once a female celeb has lost the public’s good opinion, for whatever reason, she probably won’t ever rebound, no matter what she does. Just look at Angelina. She’s been in a stable relationship for nearly a decade, she has a beautiful family, too, and she does so much good work, and yet there are still a lot of people who go, “Whatever, show off,” whenever she gets mentioned.

Anyway, I don’t think it’s as simple as “men can say anything,” so much as, “for some reason, we don’t let very many women say anything.”

@Algernon
Well said!
Aside from know perverts/abusers like Terry Richardson, Woody Allen, Polanski et al, opinions on/reactions to women celebrities seem to be much more divisive and visceral than male celebrities. I dunno, it seems that women are still seen as needing to earn their right to speak and be heard on public platforms, so if they f-ck up or say something stupid it is met with much more derision and less forgiveness, because they’ve shown they don’t ‘deserve’ the public space they have carved out for themselves…..if that makes sense?

And don’t get me wrong, I have no love lost for Sarah Palin, but she is a pretty good example of this. Male politicians say stupid shit all. the. time, but I have never seen any of them be as consistently (and persistently) publicly lambasted as she was.

Yeah but Palin, as running mate to McCain, had an extremely high profile forum to showcase her ignorance, much higher profile than most typical politicians. Remember Dan Quayle? He was ripped to shreds almost as much as she was. While it often is, gender sometimes isn’t a factor.

The more he opens his mouth, the more I don’t like him. I know a lot of people on here love the frankness of his interviews, but I find him to be a jerk. Also using the word “tranny” wasn’t very smart.

i appreciate the JB rant. i enjoy a good rant, my being a crabby a-hole that hates everything.
but after the first hammdong appearance he should have wrapped it up. you are famous and people are looking at you. dry your tears and wear some underwear. if you quit complaining it won’t be the first thing people go to when referring to you. eventually. buck up, hammdong. it could be worse.
and the palin comment. does he not understand the criticism against the super rich is that they want to stop funding programs, ie public education? they don’t want to pay their fair share of taxes so the poor unwashed masses, the mediocre can have some opportunities to rise above?
ugh.

I also found his “tranny” comment incredible jarring. How can he not know that is transphobic? I give a pass to folks who are ignorant about what to call us, but I find it hard to believe that he doesn’t know . Of course Ru Paul only recently said that he would not use the word so maybe Hamm is just slightly behind the curve. I hope so.

I’m not okay with the “trannies” comment. Hamm is an educated middle-aged man, not some dumb kid. He should know better. As for the rest, I’m finding it a little tiring. I mean, he right. The Hammdong thing is old, and I think the entire world agrees about Bieber. But it’s not exactly making some big stand to disapprove of Justin’s behavior these days, and the stuff about his dong would go away if he stopped bringing it up and stopped repeating the fashion mistake.

@lunchcoma I agree with you. Bieber is pretty low hanging fruit. How about some curmudgeness about o I don’t know Uncle Terry or Polanski or the so aptly named Woody?

I think Bieber gets shade because he is bratty, also relatively untalented. Beiber doesn’t have any power over folks in Hollywood so Hamm can grump about him and look like a truth teller. However as far as I know JB has not sexually exploited anyone.

I never liked Justin Bieber.. but I’m kind of over him being the talking point of other celebrities. Would anyone have cared what he said if he had not mentioned Justin B. or talked about his penis. NO. Jon Hamm is not a big topic of conversation. I think when you have to mention another celebrity to rag on them or even praise them you do so to get attention. Nothing more If Jon Hamm could hole the public attention he would only need to talk about himself and his life and his shit. But in every interview he gives he goes off on others.

I don’t watch Mad Men. Tried to get into it but couldn’t stick to it. He needs to be thinking about what he will be after it ends. I think he and the others stayed 2 years too long. He has a Disney movie coming out so I’m curious what his career will be later.

And yes he should wear underwear. Just like what people say about the women that have exposed their none underwear moments. But people on this site were so Hamm Dong for a long time. I don’t see the same passion anymore.

no patience for him complaining about his penis meme-you don’t want people taking about your dick, then cover it up. it’s like a woman wearing a low cut top and then getting pissed people aren’t looking her eyes